10 of Sydney’s best Indian eateries and restaurants

From a comforting bowl of curry to canteen-style cooking and spice-driven fine diners and everything in between, Sydney is rich in pickings for excellent Indian dining options.

Here’s some of the best to try.

Raja

Raja is nothing like other Indian restaurants around town. Co-owners Nick and Kirk Mathews-Bowden have enlisted Ahana Dutt to lead the kitchen, and the former Firedoor chef is on a mission to introduce more Sydneysiders to the tapestry of Indian spices, genres and styles beyond butter chicken and naan. There’s charred spatchcock perched on a thick puddle of sunset orange makhni sauce; flounder sent into orbit with a Goan-style sauce of chillies, ginger and tamarind; and “vegetable chop” croquettes based on Bengali street food.

Must try: Whole flounder ambot tik

1A Kellett Street, Potts Point, raja.sydney

Derrel’s

With free BYO and open until 2am every Friday and Saturday, Derrel’s is the perfect late-night Parramatta Road pit stop. Modelled on Indian canteens and England’s greasy spoon “caffs”, its super-filling, deep-flavoured dishes are influenced by chef Brendan King’s experience growing up Anglo-Indian in nearby Croydon Park. Gnarly, sunset-red tandoori chicken wings are beaut value at $17 for five pieces, as is a fried chicken sandwich special inspired by the Colonel’s Zinger Burger. Or consider carb-on-carb loading with an English-style chip butty with butter chicken gravy. Whatever you order, there’s never a boring mouthful.

Must try: Tandoori chicken plate

89 Parramatta Road, Camperdown, derrels.com.au

Abhi’s

Occupying the same site since Bob Hawke was PM, Abhi’s is perennially abuzz with regulars keen for excellent masala dosa, and families celebrating special occasions with mixed tandoori plates that hold seekh kebabs and hariyali lamb cutlets. Indian food in Sydney is considerably more complex and fragrant thanks to chef Kumar Mahadevan and his family.

Must try: Goan fish curry with flaky barramundi, cumin and turmeric-spiked coconut milk sauce

163 Concord Road, North Strathfield, abhisindian.com.au

Flyover Fritterie

Although Flyover’s plant-based menu is not the longest Indian list in town, it’s certainly one of the more distinctive, drawing inspiration from street stalls (and very much a butter chicken-free zone). Chilli fritters are addictively crunchy; black dhal is intensely savoury; and a paneer tikka jaffle warms you like wearing socks straight out of the dryer.

Must try: Battered whole green chillies

88 Regent Street, Redfern, flyoverfritterie.com.au

Ambi’s Chai Bar

Be prepared for spiced perfume clouds of cardamom, cinnamon and ginger to blast you into the sky. Owner Ambi Thind specialises in Afro-Punjabi chai that is brewed to order and buzz with pepper. The food also reflects Thind’s Indian roots and African upbringing: roti with Zambian-style curried chicken and tamarind chutney, for example, or scrambled egg bhurji, and spiced chickpeas (chole) with chilli condiments. Also in North Sydney.

Must try: The Nutella roti with pineapple and passionfruit

5/366-368 Pennant Hills Road, Pennant Hills, ambischai.com.au

Chatkazz

For a one-stop Indian shop, perennially busy Chatkazz is arguably Harris Park’s most consistent spot for Mumbai-style vegetarian roadside specials (don’t miss vada pav bread rolls fat with deep-fried potato), biryani, dhal, dosa and naan, and crunchy green chilli pakora fritters ready to swipe through yoghurt and sweet-sour chutneys. Also in Bella Vista.

Must try: Bhindi do pyaza with caramelised okra, onion and spice

Shop 4-6, 14-20 Station Street East, Harris Park, chatkazz.com.au

Holi Crop

Visiting Holi Crop, a tiny cafe-bakery down a suburban alleyway, is like sitting inside a hand-rendered cloud: it is decorated with glowing glass lights, hand-hewn wood-grained tables and trays of chai lamingtons, oven-warm croissants and glistening pecan pie. Owned and run by Himi Makhija, who is from northern India, Holi Crop serves Indian-influenced dishes ranging from eggplant shakshuka to mango tacos served with kraut, sweet potato chipotle and jalapeno.

Must try: Ras malai porridge with poached fruit, toasted fennel, saffron and cardamom

Shop 2/23 Rohini Street, Turramurra, instagram.com/holicrop

Foreign Return

Every detail at Foreign Return helps build a hyper-colourful map of India. The Marigold Sour cocktail, for instance, is decorated with pretty petals inspired by the 4000 florists at Mullik Ghat, the largest flower market in Kolkata. The upstairs level displays a pendant shaped from fishing nets: a reference to Mumbai’s Koliwada fishing district. And its menu is a diverse line-up of regional Indian dishes, with “lost” recipes rarely seen elsewhere, some seasoned with Australian native ingredients. For full transporting effect, order the fried prawn dish (prawns Koliwada) and staff will deliver its history with your serve.

Must try: Raj kachori

527 Crown Street, Surry Hills, foreignreturn.com.au

Don’t Tell Aunty

Don’t Tell Aunty is a multi-sensory feast of subcontinental colour and movement. The warehouse space that was Colin Fassnidge’s 4Fourteen now blushes punk pink, with a glitzy spotlit bar, potted palms and vivid blue velvet banquettes. It’s both proudly Indian and proudly disruptive of classical Indian restaurant cliches, boasting an “unauthentic Indian” menu – think butter chicken without butter, blue vein cheese naan or rosy-red, Colonel Tso’s cauliflower, a riff on an Americanised Chinese chicken dish that turns cauliflower florets into something that tastes remarkably like battered sweet and sour pork. You can have fun here, with a menu that fizzes and pops with new-from-old ideas.

Must try: Colonel Tso’s cauliflower

414 Bourke Street, Surry Hills, donttellaunty.com.au

Malabar

Good old Malabar does a lot more than that southern Indian favourite, masala dosa, but, my goodness, it doesn’t really need to. The baby goat mappas are another favourite, but don’t overlook the fermented lentil and rice dosa, with its little pots of lentil sambar and coconut chutney. The scrunch of crispness and softness is given a lovely sourness from its downy, fermented inner lining. Enfolding either a “savoury mince” of lamb, fenugreek, ginger and cinnamon, or a crushed rubble of warm potato, onion, curry leaves and mustard seed (alongside other chicken or prawn options), it’s proof that you don’t even need a curry to have a great curry night. Also at Crows Nest.

Must try: Kheema dosa – lamb mince with fenugreek, fresh ginger and cinnamon

1/274 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst, malabarcuisine.com.au